Demand for platelets up 50% in 5yrs

[Posted: Wed 18/10/2006]

Xagena Medicina (Italy) | 10/18

By Deborah Condon

The demand for platelets - vital components of blood used in the treatment of cancer - has increased by 50% over the last five years, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has said.

For the first time, it has joined forced with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), to call on more people to become platelet donors.

Platelets are essential as they help enable the blood to clot properly. Chemotherapy often damages a patient's bone marrow cells where the platelets are made. This can make the patient prone to spontaneous bleeding. As a result, cancer patients, especially leukaemia patients, often depend on platelet transfusions while they are undergoing chemotherapy.

A leukaemia patient undergoing chemotherapy may need between four and 10 platelet transfusions per week. A patient undergoing a bone marrow transplant may need up to 60 units of platelets.

In order to meet this demand, the IBTS collects platelets in two ways - pooled and apheresis. Pooled platelets are processed from whole blood donations. It takes four whole blood donations to produce one dose of platelets for patients.

Apheresis is a special type of donation which separates the platelets from the rest of the blood during donation. An apheresis donation collects the same amount of platelets as those pooled from eight to 12 whole blood donations.

"The IBTS is endeavouring to limit patients' exposure to many donors, therefore collecting platelets through apheresis is preferable, to provide the safest possible product for the patient", said Dr William Murphy, national medical director of the IBTS.

He explained that the shelf life of pooled platelets is only five days, while the shelf life of apheresis platelets can be extended from five to seven days.

"At present, only around 40% of platelets supplied to Irish hospitals are collected by apheresis. It is the aim of the IBTS, in association with the ICS, to recruit about 2,000 new platelet donors, in order to supply 100% apheresis platelets within the next three years", Dr Murphy said.

Also speaking at the launch of the campaign was Morgan Hackett (44) from Dublin. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000 and was then diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005.

"My leukaemia treatment experience put previous treatments for non-Hodgkin's in the shade. I could not have committed to my chemotherapy without the blood products, including platelets, being available. I simply would not have survived", Mr Hackett explained.

血小板需求量在5年之内上升50％

爱尔兰癌症协会说：过去五年以来，在癌症病人的治疗中对血小板――这一血液中的重要成分的需求量增加了50％。

这是第一次由爱尔兰癌症协会（ICS）和爱尔兰输血服务机构（IBTS）联合起来去动员更多的人成为血小板的捐献者。

IBTS国家医学教授威廉墨菲先生说：“病人在输注来自于多位不同献血者的血小板时血小板输注无效的可能性会增加，IBTS正在努力控制这一情况，因此单采血小板能够最有效地保障提供给病人安全成分的血液制品。”

血小板是非常必要的，它们能够帮助血液适当地凝集。化疗常常会损害病人的骨髓，而骨髓正是血小板的制造系统，这会使化疗病人在出血时无计可施而危及生命。所以癌症病人，尤其是白血病患者常常依赖于血小板的输注。

一个白血病患者在接受化疗期间每周可能需要输注4到10单位的血小板。一个接受骨髓移植的病人可能需要输注60单位的血小板。

为了满足这个需要，IBTS用两种方法采集血小板――手工合并血小板和单采血小板。手工合并血小板从全血中提取，提供给病人的一个治疗剂量的手工合并血小板来自于四位献血者的全血。

单采血小板是一种特殊的献血模式，在捐献时就分离出血小板和其它血液成分。一个单位单采血小板中血小板的含量相当于8到12单位全血中分离出来的血小板。

他解释到：手工分离的血小板只能保存5天，而单采血小板可以保存5至7天。

墨菲教授说：“目前，在爱尔兰的医院里输注血小板的病人只有大约40％是输注单采血小板。IBTS的目标是，联合爱尔兰癌症协会，招募约2000位新的血小板献血者，来保证在接下来的三年中提供给病人100％的单采血小板输注。”

同时在活动开始时来自都柏林的摩根海科特发言，他在2000被诊断得了非霍奇金淋巴瘤，后来在2005年被诊断得了白血病。

海科特先生解释到：“我的白血病治疗是早期对非霍奇金淋巴瘤的治疗的基础上的进行的。血液制品是必须的，我无法想象如果没有包括血小板在内的血液制品，我的化疗能不能顺利进行，也许我已经活不到现在。”

                                                                    社会事务科